Well, that’s it folks: WWDC 2012 wraps up today and developers will soon head home to put the finishing touches on their OS X Mountain Lion apps, while immersing themselves in the fun and excitement of iOS 6 ahead of its launch this fall. But that doesn’t mean the rest of the tech world is just twiddling their thumbs -- read on and find out everything making news for this freaky Friday, June 15, 2012.

While Google’s Android continues to dominate the smartphone market, manufacturers creating tablets with the same operating system are still fighting an uphill battle against Apple’s iPad -- including the once white-hot Amazon Kindle Fire.

Despite the popularity of the iPhone, viewing its otherwise stellar display outdoors can often be a challenge, particularly in bright sunlight. Nokia has taken advantage of this weakness to market its new Lumia 900 Windows Phone handset, and now independent research appears to back up those claims.

After two years of bromance, Target and Amazon bid farewell to seek other mates. Target, which began selling Amazon’s Kindle and Kindle Fire in stores in June 2010, announced last week that it’s halting shipments of Kindle products to its stores due to a competitive conflict. As Kindle products have grown from simple e-readers into full-blown tablets, with apps which link Amazon stores replete with competitive products, Amazon has become a threat. Likewise, Target is favoring Apple more and more these days, giving the Cupertino-based company a stronger focus in stores and promoting sales for iPads over Kindles.

Steve Jobs hated the notion of a tablet with smaller dimensions than the iPad. Just about everyone else seems to love it, especially Amazon: Since launching their 7 inch Kindle Fire late last year, the popular seven inch Android tablet has trounced the competition with it’s low price and respectable catalogue of apps, books, music and video. Has Amazon’s seven inch success story swayed Apple to change their minds about making a smaller version of their market leading iPad? A gazillion tech pundits seem to think so. As the weeks wear on, the whispers about the iPad Mini grow stronger. Here’s what everyone thinks they know so far...

Samsung is back for more, today introducing the third generation of its Galaxy S smartphones with an impossibly large 4.8-inch display and a handful of the iPhone’s best features (such as a Siri knockoff) thrown in for good measure. Gee, maybe they actually like getting dragged into patent court all the time? At least Apple can’t say the Korean manufacturer is stealing their screen size. With that in mind, let’s jump into the rest of the day’s news for Thursday, May 3, 2012.

Steve Jobs famously pooh-poohed the notion of a 7-inch iPad in 2010, doubting "the value of the product" and calling it "meaningless, unless your tablet also includes sandpaper, so that the user can sand down their fingers to around one quarter of the present size." But the market has matured a bit since then. If nothing else, Amazon's Kindle Fire has proven that there is indeed a market for a 7-inch tablet, but the question remains whether Apple will finally put an end to the rumors and release a so-called iPad mini this year.

The new iPad’s finally here, but for some reason you want a different tablet. Maybe you prefer the feeling of an inferior build quality in your hands, or love navigating a fragmented mobile OS and app ecosystem. We kid, we kid! As much as we love the iPad, we’re not here to judge you: Apple’s not the only company out there that offers a bit of the old tap-and-swipe, and if you feel the need to wander away from Cupertino, so be it. To help you on your way, we’ve put together a list of four iPad alternatives that’'' help you stay productive, play and stay in touch everywhere you go.

It seems like no matter how much Apple protests shrinking the iPad into a seven-inch form factor, the world just can’t accept it. Nor should they, if a new report is to believed which claims samples of a 7.85-inch iPad are currently making the rounds of Apple’s supply chain.